True Love's Kiss
by CrimsonJoy
Summary: Based off boonothing's prompt- Lacey notices that Ruby's been ignoring her lately, and tracks her down to find out why.


It had dawned on her a couple of days ago that Ruby hadn't been talking to her anymore.

It had been over a week since she'd seen the waitress out of her workplace, and it wasn't for lack of trying to talk. Ruby just didn't seem as interested anymore.

It didn't hurt, not really anyway. She didn't know Ruby, and Ruby didn't know her. They had no reason to be speaking. But after those first few days, when she was never really without those watchful eyes taking care of her, it felt strange to have them gone.

Ruby herself hasn't changed much. She still seemed permanently concerned and still was found every evening in the company of Mary (or Margaret?) and her husband, whose name Lacey couldn't ever remember. But she seemed to have given up on Lacey. Now that she was back with Rumpel, she didn't really need the protection or help Ruby had offered, but now that she had noticed her missing, it was staring to get to her.

Lacey didn't have friends, and she didn't care about that. She didn't need them, and didn't get attached to people easily enough to actual bother with them, but having someone up and leave her like that was something different. That pissed her off.

So that's what found her visiting the diner an hour after what she had gauged as the lunch rush would be over, striding towards it as dignified as she could, not giving herself time to think of reasons why she shouldn't be there. Because there were plenty.

Ruby wasn't working, just lazily hovering about, and brushing tables off, when Lacey spotted her. Sometimes she wondered why Ruby never wore the uniform the others did, or if it was just that her grandmother owned the place, but then she would have to admit that she wanted to see that and Ruby would defiantly call her out. In private anyway. Just how Lacey planned to do this.

She strutted over, maintaining her confidence, making as much noise as she could without drawing too much attention. She only needed Ruby to notice her.

That was easy though, it was always like Ruby could just _smell _her or something, the way her head would snap up to stare when she got within six feet of her. But she still got taken aback, every single time, and for a moment she mask slipped and her smirk faded when Ruby straightened up to her full height, looking down at Lacey, waiting for her to speak first.

It was only at that moment Lacey realised she had nothing planned to say at all. And that everyone (everyone being maybe five people, including Granny) in the diner was staring like they were about to fight or something. They wished…

But Ruby didn't notice, or care maybe. She did raise an eyebrow in a kind of lazy way that snapped Lacey out of her thoughts, however, and had the shorter woman right back to speaking.

"You're ignoring me," she was whispering, but it wasn't exactly quiet in the dead silence that was the diner. God this town had no excitement… Lacey didn't care, but she noticed Ruby shifting under the gazes, her nerve breaking and felt the tiniest hint of a smirk cross her lips.

She had to admit, it was fun making Ruby nervous.

No time to dwell on it though, because she was already being pulled aside, through the heavy kitchen doors and into the back room, which was empty. The cook must have left after the rush. Good thing too, they didn't need an audience. Not with the attention they drew naturally. People always looked at them weirdly, but Lacey could never fathom why.

Ruby wasn't glaring anymore, or whatever that half glare thing she always did actually was. Lacey called it a glare, since it was so easy to connect that name to a look she didn't understand.

Those glares were never as hard as the ones the other townsfolk could give, which just so happened to be brutal. Whoever her old self was, she must have pissed everyone off or something. Everyone except Ruby. But it had been Ruby ignoring her, none of the others, and now Lacey wanted to know why.

She was rambling and hadn't realised, stupidly string words together with just enough bite in them to keep Ruby's mind from wandering away. "Don't think I haven't noticed, what did I _insult_ you or something?" Finally, her brain caught up with her mouth and she stopped the onslaught to give time for at least a half syllable response.

Why hadn't she planned ahead just a little? Words usually came quite easily to her, but now she just felt awkward. Ruby's weird half sympathy look was infuriating and she didn't like it. But she still didn't break their eye contact, still waiting for her answer to the question she knew Ruby was ignoring.

So she smiled as softly as she could, knowing it still came off as a little sarcastic, but it was an attempt. Ruby still only seemed sad, and had yet to say a word to her, and for the first time in what she could remember, Lacey felt guilty. She had no idea why, since she had done nothing, but she did.

But she got no responses, and she knew Ruby's grandmother would be barging into get her waitress back at any second, so she needed to speed things along. This time, she barely parted her lips before Ruby beat her to it.

"Shut up," That sent Lacey backpedalling, almost taking a step back in disbelief, but Ruby held up her hands in surrender. "Just… give me a minute okay? And I know this won't make sense to you and I'm using you but just… let me talk."

Lacey blinked, and said nothing, only rolled her eyes in tired agreement. Ruby's tongue darted out across dry lips and she breathed deeply, like she was actually going to be saying something important. Lacey's attention was snagged in a heartbeat. There was just something about seeing that vulnerability that kept her listening.

Ruby was wringing her hands a little, running them quickly through her hair ever now and again, and still not really looking at Lacey when she spoke again. "I'm sorry I haven't be talking to you," she said it all to fast, and, with that same quickness, her eyes finally met Lacey's. "But I can't talk to you when you're not you, but it's you I want to talk to about that!"

Lacey swallowed, and even went to speak but a look told her not too. Ruby was just getting started. "I miss you, Belle," _Belle?_ Lacey inwardly groaned and she knew it showed on her face, but it did nothing to slow Ruby down. "I miss the version of you that would have ever even thought of leaving Gold to be with me, and who could actually ever _love_ _me_…"

It wasn't open nerves temping Lacey to listen any longer, but open wounds, and for the first time in all she could remember, she actually felt bad about something she knew she hadn't done. She didn't know much about this Belle girl, but here was something that made that name actually frustrate her a little more.

Belle was still tearing at Ruby when she was long gone, and that seemed to both an accomplishment- which she could respect – and an injustice that made her stomach do strange things. It was only then that she realised Ruby was still speaking, and blinked to wake herself up.

"I just really miss you, her, whatever…" she seemed pretty far gone as she spoke, and Lacey actually felt deflated at the words. Ruby was in love with her… well Belle anyway, and so this kept surprise to a minimum when Ruby's lips crashed down to hers.

It was short and sweet, and Ruby broke it first, with wide, terrified eyes before disappearing without a trace. Granny didn't see Ruby leave, but the bang of the door still made her flinch. She should have known not to leave her alone with Lacey for that long, it would hurt her far t0o badly. She'd spent enough nights consoling her.

It was harder to miss Lacey springing out of the kitchen some time later, stumbling and confused looking as she flew towards the doors again, leaving with just as much of a show as she made entering. Granny could only sigh and hope that Ruby had gotten far enough away to escape that, and shoo her customers back to their meals.

Xxxxxxxxxx

Ruby had run for hours, much longer than a human body would have allowed. It was one of the rare moments that she was glad of her condition. It gave her much more to do before going back to town, an excuse to stay in the forest for hours on end.

She knew some of the townsfolk that preferred to remain in ignorance believed she could transform at will, and she could play that to her advantage fairly easily. This was one of those times.

It was nice to stay out of sight for a while, just not thinking. But of course, she couldn't stay like that forever, and eventually that familiar groaning embarrassment crawled up again and she rolled her eyes to herself, kicking through the dirty half beaten trails, knocking branches out of her way with too much force. IN the distance, she could see the neon sign of the diner, still lit up no matter the hour, and aimed for it, though she knew by now how to navigate the territory.

There was only so long she could run from it, and Belle- Lacey… its Lacey- would be asleep by the time she got back to town. So she had another night of peace before anything spread around town or she would have to listen to the sniping comments.

Ruby wanted to just bury under her blankets right now and try to sleep, maybe even relax for an hour before she had to get up and work again. Hopefully Granny wouldn't be too mad…

Before she knew it the soils under her feet transformed into hard tarmac, and the Bed and Breakfast only a street away, and all of a sudden her legs were too heavy to keep her moving and her eyelids drooped in exhaustion. Maybe the running was taking its toll on her now, but she had hit her wall, and seemed in all but a haze crashing through the front door.

Patting her pockets for her keys, she gritted her teeth when she felt they weren't there. She must have left them in the diner when she left like that… Trying to stay quiet, her hands curled into fists and she sighed. Still, she grabbed the handle roughly and twisted, hoping on some divine notion that it would open.

And it did.

She fell in through it, not braced enough for it to actually let her in, and barely caught herself on the doorframe on her way down, pulling herself back up with one arm and pushing her hair back up out of her face with the other. And it was that moment her breathing stopped. "Lacey"?

There she was, as if she belonged there, sitting with her knees pulled up to her chest and Ruby's keys at her side. She had two rough looking bags thrown down on the floor and a strange smile playing on her features. "Hello, Ruby," she muttered, scratching shyly at her legs. _Her pyjama clad legs… _Ruby noted.

"How long have you been here?"

"A couple of hours," Lacey seemed unsure of herself, like she had no idea of time passing until she had been asked, but glanced up with tired eyes nonetheless. Tired eyes that Ruby knew all too well.

But it couldn't be. Ruby pushed down any excitement she felt growing, she didn't need it anymore. Excitement was only a gateway for upset anyway. Yet she still couldn't help but ask, "Belle?"

She was correct in her assumptions, and though Belle had been there for hours waiting for Ruby to return, it was not her first stop of the evening.

Leaving the diner, she was quick enough to know Ruby would be long gone, already hidden in her beloved trees before she had even gotten out the door. She was back, and didn't understand fully what was happening. Her memories had bombarded her and her emotions felt more off track that ever. The things she had done…

So she had gone to Rumple's, packed her bags, had a brief yelling match and stormed away, fuming and looking tiny under the weight she carried. She can't even think about everything she had driven him to do. No… what he had done to impress that girl who looked a little like her…

Then there was Ruby. Who poured her soul out to that bitch and did it so easily that she had fallen for her enough to break the curse, and in mere seconds. Belle had known where she was going from the moment her memories came back to her and she spotted the keys to Ruby's apartment lying on the counter.

She had materialized outside without even thinking and, with a moment of regret for breaking in, she unlocked the door and strode inside. She sat there for longer than she could comprehend, and let the sun set in the background, waiting to explain and hold the waitress tight in her arms again.

So she nodded and Ruby rushed her side, already trying to figure out if it was true, or just Lacey toying with her emotions. Her eyes searched down into Belle's soft, blue ones with a purpose she had never used before, and Belle smiled under the scrutiny. "It's me, Ruby," she spoke with a laughing breath, unwinding her arms from around her legs and letting them round Ruby's shoulders to keep her in place. Ruby had a bad habit for running when she got stressed.

She shouldn't have worried, because a second later, when Ruby's previously dismal, pursed lips split into a grin that Belle had missed, and when those same lips met her own softer than ever before, she knew she wasn't going anywhere.

**A/N: HAPPY RED BEAUTY-VERSARY**


End file.
